Destiny Remains
by xvpaffox
Summary: When Dimitri left, Rose was shattered. Now he's back with Tasha for Lissa and Christian's wedding while trying to fix the pieces. Rose won't be fooled this time, though.
1. Chapter 1

_Hellllloooo! This is my new amazing story, Destiny Awaits :D It won't be like other Dimitri-leave-Rose-for-Bitch (oops I meant Tasha) stories because those are just lame. Am I right? I usually am ;) Anyway, hope you likeys!_

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**Chapter One**

God. There was absolutely nothing worse than waking up from those horrid nightmares, the ones that left me sweating and waking up to my own tears and sobs.

_"Wait! Dimitri! Wait!"_

_I ran faster than I'd ever run in my life. Faster than during any of those laps Dimitri had made me run. Faster than when Lissa had found the rabbit in her bathroom all those months ago. Faster than when the Strigoi attacked campus._

_But it wasn't fast enough. Tears poured down my face as I watched the plane take off._

It had all happened nearly six years ago, but I remembered it as clear as though it had happened only yesterday.

I wiped the tears away and patted my hair back. Lissa was probably busy making breakfast downstairs and Christian was probably pretending to read the newspaper while actually admiring Lissa's ass while she cooked. Typical.

I dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, my usual apparel. It had been a long time since I'd last cared about what I looked like. A long time. I saw the familiar sorrow and dullness in my dark eyes as I looked at myself in the mirror. How long had that been there? So long I couldn't really remember.

"Mommy!" Sofiya cried.

I smiled as my four-year-old daughter - almost five - ran over and hugged me. I picked her up and hugged her close to me. She was the only thing that could make me smile anymore because I could barely find a reason to smile in life. Sofiya was my only happiness.

I put Sofiya on my hip and she smiled at me. "Auntie Lissa says people are going to come over soon."

I glanced at Lissa. As I expected, she was busy making pancakes on the stove and Christian was indeed trying (and failing) to discreetly check out her ass. "Who's coming over?" We didn't have visitors too often - only Adrian, Mia, Eddie, and occasionally my mother and father. My father and Sofiya had an especially close bond.

"Christian's Aunt Tasha and Dimitri are coming to visit," she said happily, flipping a pancake. "For Zak's birthday and the wedding."

Did you hear that sound? Yeah, that was the last little bit of my heart breaking.

I almost dropped Sofiya in my shock. My hands began to tremble and I suspected I was extremely fail. "W-what? B-but the wedding isn't for three months. Why now?" No, why ever? Because I was sure I'd kill them both if I saw either of them.

"Didn't I just say? They want to be here for Zak's birthday. They've never even met him yet," Lissa reminded me. "You should be happy. It's been nearly six years since you've last seen the person who made you into a badass."

Normally Lissa was pretty good about picking up emotions but she clearly had no idea what I was going through. I was shaking and I could feel beads of sweat beginning to form on my forehead. To say I was freaking out just then would be a complete understatement.

"You okay, Mommy?" Sofiya asked. Her brown eyes - the same color as Dimitri's - showed extreme concern. She was more empathetic than Lissa was. Having two dhampirs for parents had made her extemely strange, as it should. She was almost like a spirit-user. She was so intune with energy that she could manipulate it and she was hyperaware of emotions. Physically, the odd parentage had also given her tiny fangs that were useless because she didn't need blood but they were still razor sharp.

Aside from all the strange but amazing things about her, I knew she would grow up to be a beautiful woman. She'd gotten my sunkissed-skin, facial features, and even some of my facial expressions, but she'd gotten her father's straight hair, hair color, and eye color. She smiled just like he did and even the way she moved reminded me of him - graceful and perfect. As for personality, well, she'd gotten the perfect mix. She could control her temper well, concentrate, and be polite just like Dimitri, but she was a quick-thinker, had a great sense of humor, and fought for what she thought was right, just like me.

Oh, and she loved Western books and sometimes liked to think she was a cowgirl. She always wore a cowgirl hat and matching boots. It was hilarious.

Sofiya leaned forward and put her small arms around my neck in a comforting hug. She could tell I definitely was not alright and she wanted to fix that. Indeed, her hug made me feel ten times better.

"Thank you, Sofi," I whispered to my daughter, kissing her cheek. She giggled and leaned away to smile at me. She was too perfect. All this just barely gave me the strength to ask, "When?"

"Next week," she answered. "But they might come sooner."

"Uncle Adrian!" Sofiya cried as the door opened, revealing a tidy Adrian Ivashkov. He grinned back at my daughter.

"Little princess!" he said back, using the nickname he'd given her. "Come give your favorite uncle a hug!"

Sofiya jumped out of my arms and ran into Adrian's while Christian scoffed. Meanwhile, I was preoccupied and found myself clutching the small silver heart necklace I'd worn every day for almost six years. I could remember the inscription on it exactly.

_I love you, Roza_

A lie so carefully concealed for far too long.

Adrian noticed this and turned uneasily to Lissa. Unlike the rest of my friends, only he knew the reason I'd been so upset since that day. Yeah, I've kept it a secret for this long and planned on keeping it that way.

"You broke the news to her?" he asked nervously.

"You mean about Dimitri and Tasha coming?" Adrian and I winced but Lissa didn't notice. "Yeah. Isn't that awesome?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," he muttered. "Um, is Zak awake yet? I haven't seen my little bud around yet."

"He's still sleeping," Christian informed him. "He was awake pretty late last night."

"Rose and I will go wake him up," Adrian told them, glancing at me. "We'll be right back."

Adrian was pulling me up the stairs of Christian and Lissa's house before I could even protest. Zak's room was right next to Sofiya's which was right next to mine. I actually lived with them, but that was because guardian pay was so low I couldn't afford one close enough to them. Mostly because they were so rich money might as well have been growing on the trees in their yard.

"You gonna be okay?" Adrian murmured when we were inside of Zak's room.

"Yeah," I lied. "I'll be fine. How long have you known?"

Adrian gave me the look that told me he knew well that I was lying but he wasn't going to call me out on it. "Only a few days. I wasn't sure how'd you react."

"I'll be fine," I repeated. I was trying to reassure myself more than Adrian.

Adrian approached the three-year-old's bed and lightly shook him. "Come on, little buddy. Wakey wakey."

I rolled my eyes as the little boy woke up. He glared at Adrian with pale green eyes and reached out and smacked him on the cheek. I stifled a laugh. Adrian glared back.

"I see how it is, little buddy," he mumbled, rubbing his cheek. "Come on. Mom and Dad are waiting for you."

"I don't wanna get up!" Zak cried. God, he was so much like Christian. If I hadn't watched Lissa give birth to him - ugh - than I would've thought that Christian had cheated on her. The only Lissa that shined through his cute toddler face was his ability to make people do whatever he wanted, and not from compulsion. Apparently it was a Dragomir thing.

"Come on, Zakary," I sighed. "There's pancakes downstairs."

That certainly got his attention. Like a bullet, the boy was racing down the stairs in an effort to get to the pancakes first. The kid loved his food and Sofiya could relate. Soon she was sitting right beside Zak waiting impatiently for her serving. The two kids were best friends, like just Lissa and I.

I sat down next to Adrian across from Lissa and Christian at the table as we ate our breakfast. Surprisingly, Christian was the real cook of the two but he preferred to make lunch and dinner, and as much as I hated to admit it he was a really awesome chef. A lot better than Lissa.

"So have you figured out who's all invited to the wedding, cousin?" Adrian asked Lissa. Surprisingly, Christian had chosen Adrian as one of the groomsmen (though it was even more surprising that he'd chosen my infamous father, Abe Mazur as one too). Eddie was going to be the best man, however. I was the maid of honor while the bridesmaids were Mia and my mother (another surprise). Mia was almost as excited as Lissa.

"Not really," Lissa admitted, blushing like she did every time her wedding was mentioned. "We haven't really thought about it much yet. I mean, we still have three months to plan it and all and - "

"You're rambling, cousin," Adrian interrupted with a chuckle.

Lissa's face heated up more. "Um, right. Anyway, um, we're inviting you guys, of course, Rose's parents. Your parents, if they want. Dimitri and Tasha. Mia's dad. Well, really anybody at Court that wants to go but we're sending personal invitations to them."

I winced. I already knew Dimitri and Tasha would be at the wedding but I still hated to think about it...even though there was a little part of me that was excited to see him again. Did he look the same? Did he still have his accent? Did he - ?

_Stop it, Rose!_ I mentally chastised myself. He hurt me and I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I was still very much in love with him. Yeah, I wasn't going to deny it, but I wasn't going to let him know it. I wasn't going to let him know that he'd tricked me and scarred me deeply.

"So what's the plan for today?" I asked, trying to distract my mind and take it away from the topic of my once-upon-a-time lover.

"Well the queen needs to see me at ten today," Lissa informed me.

"Why?" I'd never really liked Queen Tatiana but she's needed Lissa more and more recently. I wondered why. Hopefully she wasn't going to try to sell her off to Adrian again, especially because she's getting married now. Actually, she's been nicer to me too. Weird.

"Not sure, but she said it's important," she replied.

"Alright. Well it's eight-thirty right now. Christian will need to be at work soon so I'll go drop Sofiya and Zak off at the daycare." Christian worked at one of the cafes as a chef. Yeah, surprising. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Adrian?"

He shrugged and grinned. "Wherever you are, little dhampir, is where I need to be."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. Even after all these years he still couldn't give up his "love" for me, even though our relationship was more of a sibling one now. And really, I wasn't seventeen anymore, I was twenty-three. He couldn't really call me "little" dhampir anymore.

"Kitty!" Sofiya suddenly cried as a small white ball of fur jumped onto her lap. It made a cute little mew sound and rubbed against Sofiya.

Yes, this was an animal house. I didn't like animals - mostly because they didn't like me - and Christian wasn't particularly fond of them but Lissa and the kids absolutely adored them. I knew there were two other cats - a black one named Guardian because it acted like one and a tabby named Scurry - lazing around the house somewhere and Christian had probably locked the three dogs - a German Shepherd named Alex, a Gold Lab named Ditto, and a small Beagle named Kitten - outside. It was pretty easy to tell which animals I'd named.

Oh, and Kitty was the small white kitten that I'd gotten Sofiya a few weeks ago when she begged me for one of her own. Kitty actually liked me - well, no. She_ tolerated_ me, but that was good enough. She loved Sofiya, a trait of her dhampir-dhampir parentage. Animals adored her.

"No animals at the table," Christian scolded Sofiya.

Sofiya looked up at him with the most adorable puppy eyes. "But...but Uncle Chrissie - "

Christian totally caved. He liked to act manly and tough but no one could resist Sofiya's puppy eyes. "Alright, fine. She can stay."

Lissa frowned when she heard none of the dogs. "Christian? Did you leave the dogs outside again?"

He looked way too innocent to actually be innocent. "Of course not, Liss. Now why on Earth would I do that?"

She rolled her eyes in return. "Go get them, Christian."

Christian sighed and mumbled profanities under his breath as he left to go unlock the door. I smiled a little at the scene and got up to put my plate in the sink. "Guess I better get Sofiya and Zak to the daycare."

Lissa nodded. "I'll see you in a few minutes, okay?"

I watched Sofiya give Kitty a tearful goodbye and then we left, me holding the toddlers' hands. The Court didn't use to have a daycare but when Zak was born Lissa begged the queen to build one. Eventually, she did. Before it didn't seem like there was a use for one until everybody realized just how much people actually needed their services. The owner of the daycare was a nice Moroi lady named Christina. She was a mother herself and absolutely amazing with kids.

"It's good to see you again, Rose," she greeted me. "And you guys, too."

"Hi Christina," Sofiya and Zak said at the same time. They liked her as much as I did.

"I'll see you guys later," I said. "Love you."

"Love you Mommy!" Sofiya called.

"Love you Auntie Rose!"

I left with a small smile on my face.

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_What's up my amazing people? Did you like the story? Stupid Dimitri ruined Rose's life. Like what the hell was he thinking? :P So REVIEW FOR AMAZINGNESS! :D_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

I could feel Lissa's curiosity as we approached the room that the queen had requested to meet Lissa - and by default me - in. It was a small room with a few comfy couches that was clearly met for private meetings. Lissa sat down in one of the chairs while I stood guard against the wall.

"You can sit down you know, Rose," Lissa said. "The queen might not love me but I don't think she's going to try to kill me."

I rolled my eyes but stayed in place. Minutes later, Queen Tatiana, the ruler of the Moroi and Adrian's great aunt, walked in. Lissa immediately stood up and bowed to her before sitting back down.

"It's good to see you, Your Majesty," Lissa said with a polite smile on her face. I could feel her deeply hidden anxiety and excitement though. "Why do you need me?"

"It's nice to see you to, Princess Vasilisa," Queen Tatiana replied, taking a seat in front of Lissa. "This is a very important meeting, Vasilisa, but it should not take up too much of your time."

Lissa nodded.

"As you know, Vasilisa, I am getting old. In just a week I will be turning seventy-one. I need to start making preparations for the next queen," Tatiana explained.

"Of course, Your Majesty," Lissa agreed.

"I have been watching you very carefully. As much as I do not agree with her, I believe that Guardian Hathaway is a very able guardian and a good protector." Did she just compliment me? This is_ so_ not happening.

"She is," Lissa eagerly agreed. "Rose has protected me plenty of times."

Tatiana nodded. "I also understand she is taking care of a child as well?" At Lissa's nod of confirmation she continued. "That is a very good achievement. Not many guardians can manage that. She is well on her way to being just as prestigous as her mother."

"I agree, Your Majesty," said Lissa.

"Now onto you, Vasilisa. The Moroi world needs an able queen to rule with preferably an able king beside her. I understand you will be wedded to Christian Ozera? I did not agree with him, at first, but I have seen that he will make a great ruler."

I caught on instantly, but Lissa, however, did not. "What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

"I would like you to be my successor, Vasilisa. I believe you would be the best ruler for our people, alongside Christian Ozera."

Lissa's jaw dropped. I had to work hard to keep a straight face. I should've seen this coming, really. It explained why the queen wanted to see Lissa so much lately and why she's even spoken to Christian a few times. But she was right. Lissa and Christian would make great rulers, especially as a team.

Lissa was shocked. "I...I don't know, Your Majesty. I'm only twenty-three. So is Christian. I don't think we're ready for that kind of responsibility yet."

Tatiana smiled at Lissa. "Not yet of course, Vasilisa. But when I am close to death you will take over. Starting next week I will begin training you and Christian for the job to make sure you are prepared. I won't give up the throne to the unprepared."

"I don't know, Your Majesty. There are plenty of other princesses and princes out there that are much better suited for the job."

I didn't agree with Lissa. I thought she and Christian were perfect. Tatiana apparently agreed with me.

"I've been thinking long and hard about this decision for months now, Vasilisa," Tatiana confessed to her. "At first, I wasn't so sure of Lord Ozera's abilities. But now I am sure. Vasilisa, do you accept this honor on you and your future husband's behalf?"

Lissa thought about it for a few long moments. Then she opened her mouth and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

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Lissa's feelings were everywhere as we walked out of the room and started towards the daycare. She was happy and stunned that the queen had chosen her and Christian, guilty that it was her and not someone else probably more worthy of the honor, and worried that she would prove to not be good enough.

"Don't worry about it, Liss," I told her. "You and Christian will be great rulers."

"I don't know," she said, a little of the worry showing on her face. "What if we're not good enough? Being queen means a lot of things, Rose. I have to take charge of the whole Moroi world. That's a lot of people."

"You'll have Christian too," I offered. "And me. And Mia. And Adrian. And Eddie." Lissa rolled her eyes. "See? You have a lot of people to help you. I'm sure Tatiana didn't have that, and look how great the world is."

"I guess you're right," she said. "Still...I hope Christian reacts as well as you did."

The conversation dropped when arrived at the daycare. Lissa and I went inside and were greeted warmly by Christina. She smiled at us. "You're back already."

I nodded. "Lissa had some business with the queen. Where's Sofiya and Zak?"

"They're outside."

Lissa and I went outside to the fenced playground. We looked about the kids for our own and found them wrestling on the ground near a slide. Sofiya was on top of Zak and slapped him on the chest.

"I killed you!" she cried. "I win!"

"That's not fair!" Zak shouted. "You're stronger than I am. You cheated."

"I didn't cheat," Sofiya retorted. "You're the one who wasn't looking."

The proceeded to glare at each other, brown eyes versus green ones. They argued like siblings, but they'd grown up as siblings too. I found myself smiling as I walked over to them.

"Come on, Sofi," I said. "You can't fight Moroi. You're stronger than them."

"Ha!" Zak said, pointing a finger at Sofiya, who frowned.

"Let's go home," I said.

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At home, Christian had just gotten home from working and was lazing around on the couch - as usual. And the dogs were locked outside again. Same old Christian.

"Hey Christian," Lissa said with a smile, walking over to him and giving him a kiss.

"Lissa has something important to tell you," I chirped before she could talk herself out of telling him. I'd known Lissa for eighteen years and knew that she would probably find a reason to wait and tell him.

"Oh yeah?" Christian glanced curiosly at Lissa. "What is it?"

"I, um, uh," she stuttered, mentally cursing at me. I pretened not to notice. "Well, uh, I talked to the queen today. It was, um, really important."

I almost snickered. Christian raised an eyebrow. Yeah, I _still_ couldn't do that. "I know. What'd she want?"

"She, uh, she told me about, um, how good a job Rose was doing at guardian me and, uh, that she, um, that she's getting old and uh - "

"Just get on with it, Liss," Christian interrupted. "Whatever it is, I won't be mad at you."

"She asked me to be her successor," she blurted out. "And she wants you to be king."

Christian blinked. "Tatiana wants you to be her...successor? You mean she wants you to be the next queen? And she wants me to be king?"

Lissa bit her lip and nodded.

Much to her suprise and delight, he grinned. "That's great, Lissa! This is amazing!"

Lissa grinned back. I decided not to let my presence ruin their happy moment and went of to find my daughter, who was trying to reach something up in one of the cupboards. It was actually kind of funny.

"What is it, Sofi?" I asked, holding back a grin.

"Cookies. I want...cookies." She reached up as far as she could but she couldn't even reach the cupboard to open the doors. She looked ready to cry. Poor girl.

"Don't hurt yourself," I told her with a chuckle. I then walked over to the cupboard, opened the small doors, and got the cookies she wanted. Sofiya smiled at me.

"Thank you, Mommy."

"You're welcome, Sofi."

As I watched my daughter eat I began to ponder Tasha and Dimitri's arrival. What was I going to do when Dimitri arrived? He had a daughter and he didn't know it! Was I supposed to tell him? Maybe, but did he really deserve to know? He was the one who left me, not the other way around. If he couldn't love me how was he supposed to love our daughter?

Well, she _was_ really lovable. Anybody would love her.

Still. He didn't deserve to know. Why should I tell him? Still. If he was smart he would figure it out on his own. How she looked just like him. How she was a dhampir yet she had fangs. That should be a hint that something's not right. How if he did the math Sofiya was conceived around the same time he and I had slept together. It really didn't take a genius to do the math.

So I'll just let him figure it out on his own. Besides, he probably already has a thousand kids with Tasha. Or at least a few. I was pretty sure that was one of the reasons he left me. Because I was a dhampir and at the time we didn't think I could conceive with dhampirs. Because, well, normal dhampirs couldn't.

Until the day Dimitri left and I found out I was pregnant with Sofiya. I found out I had some really, really, _really_ rare genetic disorder or whatever and I can actually reproduce with any species. The only people who really know about this disorder are Moroi and dhampir doctors, but even most of them are uneducated about it. It's _that_ rare.

Yeah, I'm pretty awesome.

At the time, I'd actually considered calling him and telling him, but then I remembered who he left me for and promptly slammed the phone down.

He didn't deserve to know then, he doesn't deserve to know now.

"Zak! No! Bring her back!"

I was startled by Lissa's screeching and ran back into the living room, Sofiya at my heels. The front door was wide open. I stared at Lissa. "What the hell just happened, Liss?"

Lissa groaned. "He took the cat outisde." Again. This is exactly why people like Christian should not be allowed to have kids.

I jogged out the door to see the little three-year-old bastard running across the street with a big black furball in his hands. That was pretty concerning. Most people didn't really use their vehicles to get around Court but they had still made streets and I really didn't want Lissa's kid to die on my watch. I hurried over to him just as he made it to the otherside and grabbed his arm.

"Hey!" he cried. "I want to play with kitty!"

"Kitty doesn't go outside," I scolded him. He called Guardian "kitty" because he couldn't really say "Guardian" yet. "Let's go take him back inside before he gets angry."

Actually, the little bastard was already pissed off as hell. Seeing me only aggravated him more. His eyes narrowed and he hissed at me. I glared.

"Shut up, stupid cat."

"Kitty not stupid," Zak protested.

"Yeah," Sofiya agreed.

I rolled my eyes and led them back inside, ignoring the cat's hissing sounds as I did. Stupid animals. The only thing that made me regret moving in with them. Well, that, and their late night activities.

"Oh, he's okay!" Lissa said excitedly, taking the cat from Zak and rubbing it against her. "I'm so sorry, Guardian! It won't happen again!" Yeah, that's what she said the last fifty times.

Like the stupid little asshole he is, it happily rubbed itself against Lissa and then gave me a look of hatred. Stupid cat. Wasn't like I liked it either. I liked Kitty a lot better anyway.

"Can I take Kitty outside Mommy?" Sofiya asked, tugging on my shirt.

"No way," I told her. "Kitties aren't meant to be outside."

But in a few ways, my daughter was just like me. People of authority were definitely not on her "Favorites" list. She wandered around the house for a few moments and in a moment of stupidity I thought she was going to listen to me. Nope. She might be eighteen years younger than me but she wasn't stupid. Far from it. The next thing I knew I saw Sofiya running across the front yard with Kitty in her hands. She used the back door!

"Damn it!" I swore. "Sofiya!"

I heard Christian snickering behind me. I glared at him and then took off after Sofiya. Unlike Zak, she wasn't Moroi. In fact, she would probably grow up to be faster than most dhampirs. It actually took me a minute to finally catch up to her and grab her by the arm. I finally understood Kirova's frustration with me when I was at the Academy.

Yeah. I still don't regret a moment of those.

"I said Kitty doesn't go outside," I chastised. "Kitty might get lost and then you'll never see her again."

Sofiya looked up at me with those big brown eyes that made my chest ache slightly. "I never see Kitty again?"

"If you bring her outside."

I took Kitty from her to make sure she wouldn't try to pull any more stunts on me and watched her walk across the street to get back to our house.

That was when a silver car came barreling down the road. Shit.

"Sofi!" I shouted. "Get out of the street!"

Sofiya stared wide-eyed at the vehicle as it headed for her. Just like the old Rose Hathaway: I didn't think, I acted. I sped towards the street like a bullet and pushed Sofiya away from path of the car and found myself and her sprawled on the ground. I sat up and glared at the vehicle that was parked in front of Lissa's house.

That should've been my first clue. But no. I was too busy being pissed off at the people that had nearly ran my daughter over. I helped Sofiya stand up and then I stood up and crossed my arms.

"You need to watch where the hell you're going! There are kids around here!" I yelled angrily. Stupid people.

"I'm so sorry, Rose!"

I froze. That voice...

Tasha Ozera.

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_What do you think about Lissa become queen later on? Nice huh? Oh and it's TASHA! I really hate that bitch ;P Maybe I'll have Rose kill her just because i want her dead. Nahh...anyway REVIEW FOR DIMITRI EVENTUALLY WINNING ROSE'S HEART AGAIN!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Omg I totally love you guys :D I have like 17 reviews for this story already and I've only posted two chapters (well three now ;P) LOVE U GUYS!_

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**Chapter Three**

And, of course, wherever Tasha Ozera was, her loyal guardian Dimitri Belikov was too. He seemed to stand still for a moment by the car and, with his infamous guardian mask on, stood by Tasha's side.

He didn't look too different. His hair seemed a little longer and he seemed maybe an inch taller, but other than that he looked like the twenty-four-year-old Dimitri Belikov I'd fallen in love with six years ago. I wonder if he still has his Russian accent?

"It's, um, fine, Tasha," I said lamely, even though there was nothing fine about trying to run over my daughter. "Just be careful next time. Sofi and Zak like to run around where they're not supposed to."

"Is she your daughter? Christian hasn't mentioned anything about her," she told me, looking a little confused.

"Um, yeah," I answered uncomfortably. In the depths of my mind, I kind of hoped that hearing that I had a daughter would make Dimitri jealous but it's been six years. Even if he had really wanted me back then there was no way he could now.

"I'm Sofiya," Sofiya interrupted. I glanced down at her, but she looked a little confused. Or...disturbed. I couldn't really tell. "I live here with Mommy and Auntie Lissa and Uncle Chrissie and Uncle Addie and Zak."

"Addie?" Tasha repeated.

"That's her name for Adrian since she can't really say his name," I clarified.

Tasha smiled at Sofiya. "Well that's cute. Oh! Dimka, I forgot our stuff in the car. I need to go get it. Why don't you head inside with Rose?"

"I - uh, I can get it," he told her. "After all, I am your guardian."

Slap. Just rub it in my face why don't you. It pissed me off but I refused to show it. Tasha just shook her head at Dimitri. "I'll get it. I need to do something useful once in a while."

I turned around and began walking back up to Lissa's house. Honestly, Lissa or Christian should've came to my rescue and saved me (not that they knew I was being tortured) but those two lovers were too busy making out on the couch to notice anything. Real nice, guys. I banged loudly on the door but froze when I heard Sofiya talking to Dimitri, who was a few steps behind me.

"I'm Sofiya," I heard her say. "Who are you? You seem different."

Different. Huh. That was Sofiya's way of saying she felt something different about him. Hopefully he wouldn't think my daughter was clinically insane.

"I'm Dimitri," he replied, his tone actually softer.

"Cool. Are you a guardian like my mommy? Guardians are awesome." I knew Sofiya wanted to be a guardian, which was why I was sending her to St. Vladimir's next year. But I was going to be a better mom than my mother had been and visit her.

"I am. I guard Tasha," he told her.

"Who's Tasha?"

"That lady back there."

"Oh," Sofiya said. "I don't like her. She feels dark."

"Sofi," I found myself saying. "Don't say things like that. You don't even know her."

"Do you know her Mommy?"

I nodded. And despite the fact that Dimitri was with her now, I actually meant my words. "She's a very nice person. You just need to get to know her."

Then why didn't I like her? She might be nice, but yeah, she took Dimitri from me. That isn't going to give her any brownie points with me.

"But she feels bad, Mommy. I don't like it."

I resisted the urge to shudder. Sofiya's weird attraction to energy allowed her to sense things the rest of us couldn't, not even Lissa or Adrian. If Sofiya sensed something that was bad, then I knew that there was reason for concern. But she felt something bad about Tasha?

"You must be...feeling things," I finally told her. "Come on Lissa! Christian, get your ass off that couch! Your aunt's here!"

The happy couple finally turned my way to see me, Dimitri, and Sofiya. Christian fell off the couch in an attempt to get up gracefully, but Lissa managed to avoid being part of the human avalanche. Lissa was blushing but Christian just looked annoyed when he opened the door.

"Where's Aunt Tasha?" he asked.

"She's getting her stuff," I replied.

"Shouldn't Dimitri be doing that?"

"That's what he said. But Tasha was pretty adamant about doing it herself."

"Auntie Lissa!" Sofiya cried. "Look who I met. His name's Dimitri and he's a guardian just like Mommy!"

Lissa smiled at Sofiya and said something that I didn't understand because I was too busy focusing on the fact that Sofiya was holding Dimitri's hand. She's never been so happy to meet a stranger before. It was like she knew subconsciously that this was her father she was talking to.

That was when I realized that Dimitri's eyes were on me. For a few moments I couldn't tear my eyes away from his - eyes identical to Sofiya's - and when I did everybody was silent. And Tasha was back.

"Where should I put our stuff?" Tasha asked Lissa and Christian.

"Um, hey Rose? Take her to Adrian's room since it's the only room we have left. They'll have to share with Adrian tonight if he's here," Lissa informed me.

I nodded. Adrian didn't exactly live with Lissa and Christian - he had his own house - but he said it was so empty and silent that he preferred our place much better. So the spare bedroom became Adrian's room.

I broke away from the crowd with Tasha and led her up the stairs to where four of the five bedrooms were. I stopped on the first one to the right and opened the door.

"This is usually Adrian's room, but it's pretty empty. You can just set your stuff on the floor. I'm sure Lissa has an extra mattress somewhere," I said.

Tasha smiled at me. "Thank you, Rose."

We went back downstairs where Christian had just announced that he was going to start making dinner. I couldn't help but quip, "Don't burn the house down, Christian."

Christian glared at me. "I believe it was _you_ who burned the house down two years ago, actually. So I don't want to here if from you."

I rolled my eyes. True, I had burned down their house two years ago, but it had been a complete accident and mostly Lissa's fault. She was the one who told me I should try cooking, anyway. Just then, Christian and Lissa's son came zipping down the staircase.

"Mommy! Daddy!" he screamed. "I'm hungry!"

It was funny how that kid could hide so well and cause so much noise. Lissa walked over to him, ruffled his messy black hair, and smiled. "Daddy's cooking right now. It'll be ready soon."

Thirty minutes later, we all gathered around the dining table to eat Christian's chicken. Which was actually really good. I had to get seconds.

"What's the plan for the rest of today?" I asked Lissa.

She thought about it. "I've got nothing else planned. But I was thinking about taking the kids to the zoo. They're openning up the new aquarium tomorrow."

"Zoo!" both kids shouted. "I wanna go!"

I huffed. I could tolerate the zoo, but it always seemed like the animals were glaring at me every time I went. It honestly pissed me off. "Fine. But I'm not going."

"You have to go, Rose. You're my guardian," she reminded me with an eye roll. "And Sofiya's your daughter, not mine."

I glared at her. "Fine. But I want you to know that I will resent you for this for the rest of my life."

"The zoo's not that bad," she said.

"I like the zoo," Sofiya said. "I like the cats and the zebras. They're so pretty."

I didn't really know what was so pretty about black and white striped horses, but oh well. "Yeah. They're cool. I guess. The alligators are pretty awesome though."

Christian snickered. "Yeah. Because they look and act like you."

I glared at him and flicked a peice of chicken at him, hitting him right on the nose. "Now you look like Rudolph, so shut up and eat."

He glared back at me as he wiped the sauce off his nose.

* * *

_This chapter was really short :( I'm sorry. I beg your forgiveness! Anyway...the next chapter should be a lot more interesting and hopefully longer. What do you think about Sofiya's reaction to Tasha? And her reaction to Dimitri? REVIEW FOR...WELL, JUST REVIEW!_


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